Seamless brassiere

ABSTRACT

A seamless brassiere includes an outer brassiere covering layer and an inner brassiere covering layer that are respectively cut from a single-piece cloth member each having two cup portions corresponding to the breasts of a female and two back bands at two sides, a stuffing padding layer, which is sealed between the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer and having a front covering, a back covering, a breathing fiber layer sandwiched between the front covering and the back covering, and a curved, W-shaped supporting member set between the front covering and the breathing fiber layer and extending along a lower part of the border of the two cup portions of the stuffing padding layer and covering an area of the stuffing padding layer between the two cup portions of the stuffing padding layer; and a back closure for joining the back straps formed of the back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to brassieres and more particularly, to a seamless brassiere, which eliminates the use of supporting steel wires and, has a breathing characteristic.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, a brassiere has two cups, two shoulder straps, and two back straps. There are also known brassieres without shoulder straps. The size of a brassiere is determined subject to the size and depth of its cups. Designing the cups for brassiere must consider the factors of breathing, soft status, environment protection, fading resistance, padding adjustability, and etc.

The cups of a brassiere are adapted to receive the user's breasts and to support the breasts upwards. If the breasts of a female are not well supported, they will be bending downwards and not keep in shape due to the effect of gravity. No any woman can stand for this condition. Therefore, regular brassieres commonly have metal wires embedded in the cups and extending along the border area of the cups for supporting the cups and the breasts in shape. However, the supporting metal wires give a pressure to the user's breasts, causing the user's breasts to feel uncomfortable and leaving a trace on the user's breasts.

Taiwan Patent Publication No. 526714 discloses an integral brassiere, which is comprised of an outer covering layer, an inner cotton layer, supporting tube means, shoulder straps, and a back closure. The outer covering layer and the inner cotton layer are respectively single-piece members, each having cup potions and back bands. The supporting tube means is embedded in between the outer covering layer and the inner cotton layer, and extending along the lower side of the cup portions. The outer covering layer and the inner cotton layer are sealed together by a hot press, thereby forming the desired single-piece brassiere.

Taiwan Patent Publication No. M244755 discloses a brassiere without stitching on the outside. This design of brassiere comprises an upper covering layer, a lower covering layer, and an intermediate layer. Stitching a foam material, a piping and pieces of fabric together forms the intermediate layer. The foam material has one side cut to show a W-shaped edge. The upper covering layer and the lower covering layer are covered on the intermediate layer and cut into shape by a hot press and then sealed by a ultrasonic sealing apparatus, thereby forming a brassiere without stitching on the outside.

The aforesaid prior art designs use supporting tube means or piping to support the cups and the user's breasts in shape. When in use, the supporting tube means or piping gives a pressure to the user's breasts, causing the user's breasts to feel uncomfortable and leaving a trace on the user's breasts.

Taiwan Patent Publication No. 526714, issued to the present inventor, discloses a brassiere without stitching. According to this design, the brassiere comprises an outer brassiere covering, an inner lining, a stuffing member, and a back closure. The stuffing member is a curved, W-shaped, thin sheet member fitting over the breasts of a female. The outer brassiere covering, the inner lining and the stuffing member are sealed together. The back closure is fastened to the back straps that are formed of a part of the outer brassiere covering and inner lining. This design eliminates the drawbacks of the prior art designs that use steel wires, supporting tube means or piping to support the cups and the user's breasts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main objects of the present invention to provide a seamless brassiere, which uses a W-shaped supporting member formed of two fabric layers and a nonwoven fabric layer to support the cups and the user's breasts and a breathing fiber layer of a honeycomb nonwoven fabric to form a breathing stuffing padding layer, providing a comfort wearing to the user and keeping the user's breasts upwardly in shape.

To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the seamless brassiere comprises an outer brassiere covering layer and an inner brassiere covering layer respectively cut from a single-piece cloth member, the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer each having two cup portions corresponding to the breasts of a female and two back bands at two sides; a stuffing padding layer sandwiched between and bonded to the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer, the stuffing padding layer having two cup portions and two side panels corresponding to the cup portions and back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer, the stuffing padding layer comprising a front covering, a back covering, a breathing fiber layer sandwiched between the front covering and the back covering, and a curved, W-shaped supporting member set between the front covering and the breathing fiber layer and extending along a lower part of the border of the two cup portions of the stuffing padding layer and covering an area of the stuffing padding layer between the two cup portions of the stuffing padding layer; and a back closure adapted to joint the sealed back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer and to further fasten the seamless brassiere to the user's body. The stuffing padding layer is sandwiched between the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer and press-sealed with the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer together; the back closure has two parts respectively connected to the sealed back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer.

Further, the stuffing padding layer is sealed with the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer together by means of the application of one of hot press; high-frequency sealing apparatus and ultrasonic sealing apparatus.

Further, the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer are respectively cut from an artificial fabric of stretch yarn. The front covering and the back covering of the stuffing padding layer are respectively cut from an artificial fabric of stretch yarn.

The seamless brassies further comprises two shoulder straps respectively bilaterally fastened to shoulder portions of the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer at a top side of the cup portions of the inner brassiere covering layer and the outer brassiere covering layer and the sealed back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer.

Further, the breathing fiber layer of the stuffing padding layer is formed of a honeycomb nonwoven fabric. The breathing fiber layer of the stuffing padding layer has a wall thickness gradually reducing from a bottom side thereof toward a top side thereof.

Further, the curved, W-shaped supporting member comprises two fabric layers and a nonwoven fabric layer sandwiched between the two fabric layers and carbonized by means of the application of a high temperature and pressure.

Further, the front covering, back covering, breathing fiber layer and curved, W-shaped supporting member of the stuffing padding layer are adhered to one another by a bonding glue at predetermined spot points and sealed together in a mold of a hot press.

Further, the outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere covering layer each have an inner surface covered with a bonding glue at predetermined spot points and then bonded to two opposite sides of the stuffing padding layer in a mold of a hot press.

The seamless brassies further comprises two plastic shape strips respectively connected to the free end of each of the side panels of the stuffing padding layer and sealed between the back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the back bands of the inner brassiere lining layer, and two pairs of elastic plastic wires respectively sealed between the back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the back bands of the inner brassiere lining layer along top and bottom sides perpendicular to the plastic shape strips.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a seamless brassiere according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the stuffing padding layer of the seamless brassiere according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the stuffing padding layer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the finished seamless brassiere according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the finished seamless brassiere according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a seamless brassiere in accordance with the present invention is shown an outer brassiere covering layer 1, an inner brassiere lining layer 2, a stuffing padding layer 3, and a back closure 4. Further, two shoulder straps 5 may be added to the seamless brassiere if necessary.

The outer brassiere covering layer 1 is a single-piece cloth member made of artificial fibers, for example, polyester fibers for the fastening of the inner brassiere lining layer 2. To have elastic characteristic, the outer brassiere covering layer 1 is preferably made out of stretch yarn. The outer brassiere covering layer 1 has two cup portions 11 corresponding to the breasts of a female, and two back bands 12 at two sides. For the design having two shoulder straps 5, two shoulder portions 13 are respectively extending from the two cup portions 11 at the top. Further, the outer brassiere covering layer 11 is directly cut from a single piece of cloth by means of a cutting mold.

The inner brassiere lining layer 2 fits the outer brassiere covering layer 1 in size and shape, and is fixedly fastened to the back side of the outer brassiere covering layer 1 for direct contact with the user's skin, having two cup portions 21 and two back bands 22 corresponding to the cup portions 11 and back bands 12 of the outer brassiere covering layer 1. For the design having two shoulder straps 5, two shoulder portions 23 are respectively extending from the two cup portions 21 at the top. Further, the material for the inner brassiere lining layer 2 is preferably same as the material for the outer brassiere covering layer 1.

The stuffing padding layer 3 is a pad stuffed in between the outer brassiere covering layer 1 and the inner brassiere lining layer 2 to support the user's breasts. As shown in FIGS. 1˜3, the stuffing padding layer is comprised of a front covering 31, a back covering 32, a breathing fiber layer 33 sandwiched between the front covering 31 and the back covering 32, and a supporting member 34 set between the front covering 31 and the breathing fiber layer 33. The breathing fiber layer 33 is preferably made out of honeycomb nonwoven fabric having breathing and sweat absorptive characteristics, so that the seamless brassiere is comfortable to wear and eliminates the non-absorptive and non-breathing drawbacks of foam materials. The supporting member 34 is a curved strip member extending along the lower part of the border of two cup portions 35 of the stuffing padding layer 3 and covering the area between the two cup portions 35, i.e., the supporting member 34 shows a substantially W-shaped curvature to support the seamless brassiere in shape. The stuffing padding layer 3 further has two side panels 36 respectively extending from the cup portions 35. For the design having two shoulder straps 5, two shoulder portions 37 are respectively extending from the two cup portions 35 at the top. Further, the front covering 31 and the back covering 32 are preferably made out of the same elastic material for the outer brassiere covering layer 1 and the inner brassiere lining layer 2.

Further, the breathing fiber layer 33 is preferably constructed to have a wall thickness gradually reducing from the bottom side toward the top side for the advantage of supporting the user's breasts upwards and toward the center. However, this design is not a limit. As an alternate form of the present invention, the breathing fiber layer 33 can be made having a uniform wall thickness. The supporting member 34 is formed of two fabric layers 341 and a nonwoven fabric layer 342 sandwiched between the two fabric layers 341. The nonwoven fabric layer 342 is bonded to the two fabric layers 341 with a bonding glue. When the supporting member 34 is made, a hot press is used to stamp the supporting member 34, thereby carbonizing the nonwoven fabric layer 342 into shape. When carbonized, the nonwoven fabric layer 342 is flexible. By means of controlling the amount of the applied bonding glue, the flexibility of the supporting member 34 is relatively controlled to fit different requirements. In an example of the fabrication of the stuffing padding layer 3, the front covering 31, the back covering 32, the breathing fiber layer 33 and the supporting member 34 are moved through a rotating glue applicator wheel, which has raised portions evenly arranged over the periphery for applying the prepared bonding glue to the front covering 31, the back covering 32, the breathing fiber layer 33 and the supporting member 34 at multiple spots, and then the front covering 31, the back covering 32, the breathing fiber layer 33 and the supporting member 34 are arranged together in a mold of a hot press and then pressed together by the hot press.

The back closure 4 can be any of a variety of fastening means such as hook and loop materials, hook-and-eye closure, snap, etc. to join the back bands 12; 22. Because this back closure 4 is of the known art, no further detailed description in this regard is necessary.

The shoulder straps 5 are also of the known art. The ends of the shoulder straps 5 are respectively affixed to the shoulder lug formed of the shoulder portions 13;23;37 and the back band formed of the back bands 12; 22.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 to FIG. 5 again, during forming of the seamless brassiere, the breathing fiber layer 33 is bonded between the front covering 31 and the back covering 32 and the W-shaped supporting member 34 bonded between the front covering 31 and the breathing fiber layer 33 and extending along the lower part of the border of two cup portions 35 of the stuffing padding layer 3 and covering the area between the two cup portions 35, and then the parts of the stuffing padding layer 3 is stamped into shape by a hot press. Thereafter, a bonding glue is applied to spot points at the inner surface of the outer brassiere covering layer 1 and the inner surface of the inner brassiere lining layer 2, and then the stuffing padding layer 3 is sandwiched between the cup portions 11 and back bands 12 of the outer brassiere covering layer 1 and the cup portions 21 and back bands 22 of the inner brassiere lining layer 2, and then two plastic shape strips 38 are respectively attached to the free end of each of the side panels 36 between the back bands 12 of the outer brassiere covering layer 1 and the back bands 22 of the inner brassiere lining layer 2, and two pairs of elastic wires 39 molded from, for example, thermoplastic polyurethane are respectively set between the back bands 12 of the outer brassiere covering layer 1 and the back bands 22 of the inner brassiere lining layer 2 along the top and bottom sides perpendicular to the plastic shape strips 38, and then the parts are sealed by a hot press, high-frequency sealing apparatus, ultrasonic sealing apparatus or the like. At final, the back closure 4 and the shoulder straps 5 are affixed to the inner brassiere lining layer 2 by a hot press or stitching, forming the finished product. The elastic wires 39 greatly enhance the elasticity of the back straps of the seamless brassiere that are respectively formed of the back bands 12 of the outer brassiere covering layer 1 and the back bands 22 of the inner brassiere lining layer 2. Further, the plastic shape strips 38 prevent deformation of the back bands of the seamless brassiere when the back straps of the seamless brassiere are stretched.

As stated above, the seamless brassiere has the following benefits:

(1) Seamless or without stitch: A brassiere made according to the present invention is seamless or without stitch, convenient for washing. Because the invention uses an elastic fabric of stretch yarn to make a seamless brassiere, a seamless brassiere made according to the present invention fits the curvature of the user's body perfectly, providing a soft, light, and natural comfort.

(2) Metal-free: The invention uses plastic shape strips to substitute for steel wires, allowing close touch to the curvature of the user's body and giving a positive support to the user's breasts without leaving a trace on the user's breasts and keeping the line under the breasts smooth.

(3) Breathing: The stuffing padding layer has a breathing fiber layer set therein. The breathing fiber layer is made out of honeycomb nonwoven fabric having breathing and sweat absorptive characteristics superior to the various materials used in conventional designs such as sponge, foam materials, water pads, silicon rubber pads, etc. The outer brassiere covering layer and the inner brassiere lining layer are bonded to the stuffing padding layer with a glue at predetermined spot points, maintaining the breathing feature of the fabric materials. The back straps are formed of the back bands of the outer brassiere covering layer and the back bands of the inner brassiere lining layer without sponge or any stuffing material. Therefore, the user wearing the present invention does not feel sticky. Further, the plastic shape strips prevent deformation of the back bands when the back straps are stretched.

(4) Environment protection: The invention simply uses fabric and fiber materials without steel wires or foam materials. When damaged, the product of the invention does cause any environmental pollution.

A prototype of seamless brassiere has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 1˜5. The seamless brassiere functions smoothly to provide all of the features discussed earlier.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims. 

1. A seamless brassiere comprising: an outer brassiere covering layer and an inner brassiere covering layer respectively cut from a single-piece cloth member, said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer each having two cup portions corresponding to the breasts of a female and two back bands at two sides; a stuffing padding layer sandwiched between and bonded to said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer, said stuffing padding layer having two cup portions and two side panels corresponding to the cup portions and back bands of said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer, said stuffing padding layer comprising a front covering, a back covering, a breathing fiber layer sandwiched between said front covering and said back covering, and a curved, W-shaped supporting member set between said front covering and said breathing fiber layer and extending along a lower part of the border of the two cup portions of said stuffing padding layer and covering an area of said stuffing padding layer between the two cup portions of said stuffing padding layer; and a back closure adapted to joint the sealed back bands of said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer and to further fasten the seamless brassiere to the user's body; and wherein said stuffing padding layer is sandwiched between said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer and press-sealed with said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer together; said back closure has two parts respectively connected to the sealed back bands of said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer.
 2. The seamless brassiere as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stuffing padding layer is sealed with said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer together by means of the application of one of hot press; high-frequency sealing apparatus and ultrasonic sealing apparatus.
 3. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer are respectively cut from an artificial fabric of stretch yarn.
 4. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, wherein said front covering and said back covering of said stuffing padding layer are respectively cut from an artificial fabric of stretch yarn.
 5. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two shoulder straps respectively bilaterally fastened to shoulder portions of said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer at a top side of the cup portions of said inner brassiere covering layer and said outer brassiere covering layer and the sealed back bands of said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer.
 6. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, wherein said breathing fiber layer of said stuffing padding layer is formed of a honeycomb nonwoven fabric.
 7. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, wherein said breathing fiber layer of said stuffing padding layer has a wall thickness gradually reducing from a bottom side thereof toward a top side thereof.
 8. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, wherein said curved, W-shaped supporting member comprises two fabric layers and a nonwoven fabric layer sandwiched between the two fabric layers and carbonized by means of the application of a high temperature and pressure.
 9. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front covering, back covering, breathing fiber layer and curved, W-shaped supporting member of said stuffing padding layer are adhered to one another by a bonding glue at predetermined spot points and sealed together in a mold of a hot press.
 10. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outer brassiere covering layer and said inner brassiere covering layer each have an inner surface covered with a bonding glue at predetermined spot points and then bonded to two opposite sides of said stuffing padding layer in a mold of a hot press.
 11. The seamless brassies as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two plastic shape strips respectively connected to the free end of each of the side panels of said stuffing padding layer and sealed between the back bands of said outer brassiere covering layer and the back bands of said inner brassiere lining layer, and two pairs of elastic plastic wires respectively sealed between the back bands of said outer brassiere covering layer and the back bands of said inner brassiere lining layer along top and bottom sides perpendicular to said plastic shape strips. 